GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

06-06-2006, 05:16 AM posted to rec.gardens

wrote:
Hi,

Does anyone else have trouble with asparagus plants that get bent over
by winds?

I planted asparagus last year and have let them fern out, but the
plants get so tall (seems about 4-5 feet) that they blow over in the
winds. I'm afraid this will damage the plants.

A friend told me NOT to stake them because it would make the plant
weaker. But I'm thinking if the fern snaps in two before it can suck up
enough energy for next year that would be worse.

Does anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions?

Thanks.

I stake mine because, otherwise, they block the sprinklers and get in
the way of weeding adjacent areas.

My edible asparagus goes dormant in the winter, so issues about the
strength of individual ferns are not important. When they yellow in the
late fall or early winter, I cut them back, leaving about 6-9 inches of
stubs as markers for where I should look for shoots the following spring.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/